SACRAMENTO – Gov. Brown today signed into law a bill to help foster youth transition into adulthood by improving their safety net of resources, peers and family.

“This new law will put into practice what we’ve learned over the past several years about the best way to help foster youth transition out of the foster-care system into adulthood,” Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, said about her Senate Bill 612.

SB 612 will make permanent elements of the state’s Transitional Housing Placement + Foster Care (THP+FC) program by updating regulations to reflect best practices obtained over the past five years.

In 2012, the state Department of Social Services created temporary regulations called “THP+FC Interim Licensing Standards” that have been followed but never officially adopted as permanent regulations. This created overlapping policies between minors and adult dependents. State officials acknowledged that minor and adult dependents have different needs and that Mitchell’s bill was necessary for clarity.

“SB 612 will permit the THP+FC programs to allow non-minor dependents to co-sign apartment rental agreements and streamline the hiring process of case managers who work with youth on critical life skills,” said Danielle Mole, Senior Policy Advocate for the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, sponsor of the bill. These skills include navigating the education system, applying for jobs, and finding and keeping safe and stable housing.

Supporters included the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color; the Children's Advocacy Institute; First Place for Youth; and Parents by Choice.

SB 612 takes effect Jan. 1, 2018.

For more information and a Fact Sheet that provides additional details please click on the attachment at the bottom of this press release.

For more information, visit Sen. Mitchell’s Web site HERE or at the address below.

Sen. Mitchell is chair of the Senate Budget Committee. A member of the Legislature for more than six years, she represents nearly 1 million residents of Senate District 30, which includes Culver City and much of Los Angeles.See a map of Mitchell’s district that includes a demographic breakdown of its residents and more HERE.Learn more at www.senate.ca.gov/Mitchell